“I’m not done,” Juliet said firmly. “I’m taking the summer to hang out with you in one of the most beautiful places on earth.”
“The place you couldn’t wait to get away from,” Danica pointed out. “The place you hated as a kid.”
Juliet was too stunned to answer. Her thoughts swirled so violently that she thought she was going to get sick. They never told you that with motherhood, your children would grow up and throw reality back in your face.
Juliet and Danica spent the next hour and a half in silence. Juliet knew better than to pick apart how Danica treated her. She knew that Danica’s sour mood was the result of so many factors that Danica couldn’t change, some of which were all Juliet’s fault.
But by the time they pulled into the driveway at Ivy’s place—the house in which Juliet had grown up, the house directly next to the Bluebell Cove Eco-Lodge—Juliet had worked herself into an anxious sweat. Celia and Ivy would take one look at Juliet and Danica and realize what a failure Juliet’s life was. They’d understand that she was a terrible mother, and her daughter hated her.
Before they got out of the car, Ivy appeared at the front door wearing a nervous smile. Behind her was Celia, peering out curiously.
“Those are your aunts,” Juliet said.
“Great,” Danica said darkly.
Juliet bit her tongue. “Come on.” She got out, leaving their stuff in the car. She felt Danica like a shadow, following her up the stairs. The screen door screamed, drawing Ivy and Celia out for awkward hugs.
“Danica!” Celia said. “It’s wonderful to meet you. Congratulations on finishing middle school!”
Danica grimaced into a sort of smile.
“Your cousins are about to go for a walk to the cove,” Ivy said. “Do you want to join them? We’ll probably sit down for dinner in a half hour or so.”
Through the front door, Juliet could see Celia’s daughter and Ivy’s children zipping up their sweatshirts and putting on their shoes. Sophie, Celia’s daughter, waved happily and then came out to introduce herself. She was in from Washington State, where she was studying environmental journalism, just like her mother. Already, Juliet sensed a camaraderie between Celia and Sophie, proof that all of the difficulties they’d had in their relationship had melted away and left them with understanding and love.
“The cove is gorgeous this time of day,” Sophie said to Danica, urging her off the porch and on the little path that wrapped around the old house. Ivy’s kids followed them, waving nervous hellos to Juliet.
Ivy and Celia looked at Juliet, trying to create warmth in what felt like a chilly relationship.
“We have a bottle of wine open,” Ivy said finally, gesturing for Juliet to come in.
“How was the drive?” Celia asked.
“It was okay. Exhausting, but okay.” Juliet wondered what her sisters thought of the crummy car she’d driven here. She’d forgotten to be embarrassed by it.
It didn’t exactly fit in with the picture she’d been trying to offer her sisters of her luxurious Manhattan life.
Juliet ran her fingers through her hair and inhaled the smells of growing up: the cut wood waiting to be burned in the fireplace and the bricks and cedar that made up the house's foundation. If she tricked her brain a little, she could imagine her father, James Harper, booming from upstairs that it was nearly time for dinner, that the girls needed to wash their hands.
She remembered how frightened Theo had been of James Harper, how he’d never wanted to play if James was the one meant to watch over them. He preferred it when Ivy or Celia was watching. Callie hadn’t liked James too much, either. But maybe because she’d been a little girl, she’d known to smile and be polite.
“Are you okay, honey?” Ivy dared to ask.
Juliet inhaled sharply. “I’m fine! I’m fine.” She took the glass of wine and raised it. Doom and gloom swirled in her gut. “To a brilliant summer with my sisters,” she said.
But Celia and Ivy didn’t look like they believed her at all.
9
January 2005
Theo Maddox had never imagined being a senior in high school would be this “magical” experience that everyone described it as. Now, mere months before he and his other classmates walked the stage to receive their diplomas, he felt the crushing weight of the world that waited on them. Everyone constantly asked, “Did you get into college yet?” “What are you going to do after this?” “How are you going to make your money?”
He had gotten into culinary school, of course. But he was often too frightened to mention that.
What made this enormous change worse, he felt, was being best friends with Juliet Harper. Ever since they’d been kids, Juliet had been sure about her future in modeling and the fashion world. Now, she spoke about it as though it were a certainty, as though she was practically already hired. Sometimes the panic Theo felt about losing her made him want to say something like “People don’t just become models, Juliet. Get that out of your head. It’s insane!”
But he was too frightened of her to tell her the truth, so he smiled at her and told her she was going to be famous. She liked when he said things like that.
